The Quality Management Process at the Early Childhood Intervention Centre Korai Fejlesztő Központot Támogató Alapítvány Presentation April 2009 Dr. Manfred Pretis

Quality in Early Childhood Intervention 1.Parents have the right to obtain the best available service 2.Quality of service delivery is correlated with higher effects of the intervention 3.Quality shows an impact on the efficiency as services offer tailor-made programs

4. The tricky issue of quality quality for parents: best available service best effect for the child Lack of comparability quality for the financing body: most effective and cheapest service quality for research: Definition of criteria Complexity within the field quality for the service providers: necessity within the market Cost-factor

Quality in Early Childhood Intervention  Meeting the needs and expectation of the parents  Best preventive effect in terms of “cost efficiency ratio”  Quality is experienced “here and now”  Evidenced based intervention methods

What is important for Early Childhood Services in general? a.Internal Quality Criteria, processes and indicators which are defined by the institution and b.External Quality Criteria in terms of scientific and political correctness (full participation, transparency, reflexivity)

Where can Quality be measured? a.on the conceptual level (existing concept, defined key terms, operational fields, strategies etc.) b.on the level of structure (training, child-staff-ration, management, infrastructure, available equipment) c.on process level (evidence based support processes for the child and the family, documentation and monitoring) d.On result level (outcomes for the child, the family and team-effects) e.on the level of sustainability (follow up and impact on the society)

External Quality Criteria a.Full Participation of all stakeholders, especially of the parents b.Full Transparency of processes and structures c.Full Reflexivity of activities

What does this mean for a framework of quality regarding Hungarian Early Childhood Intervention Centres? Hungarian Early Childhood Intervention Centres need a set of rules regarding different levels: A) Existence of a Concept B) Transparent description of Structures C) Taxative list of processes D) Related Outcome-parameters (A+B+C) E) Long term preventive perspective

A. Set of Rules on the Conceptual level the existence of a concept (vision, mission, operational fields, activities) the definition of key quality terms (e.g. integration, family centredness, prevention..) A clear link between all levels and key quality terms

B. A set of rules regarding structural requirements Defined requirements regarding basic education/ remuneration of the professionals in the field availability of equipment and infrastructure Transparent leadership Clear responsibilities Definition of support Clear link to predefined terms

C. Set of rules on the level of processes - Description of all processes in a Centre - from the first intake till the finalisation of the intervention -Definition of responsibilities, goals, resources and monitoring structures -Clear link to the predefined key terms These processes should be described in an easy understandable way so that families can easily understand, what the process of early intervention in the centre is about

D. Set of rules regarding results -Description of outcome parameters which are connected with the conceptual goals, the structure and the performed processes (e.g. developmental gains of children in terms of prevention, family support…)

E. Set of rules regarding sustainability -Long term indicators which are able to measure the impact of the mission of the Centre (e.g. the ratio of children fully integrated after the intervention, description of preventive effects..)

The external point of view: To avoid a pure self-evaluated assessment of own services also an external view towards the own service has to be included.  full participation  transparency  reflexivity (continuous quality management)

The Future for Hungary a.Focus on structural quality (comparable basic training ( b.Focus on a set of defined standards for all early childhood intervention centres c.Accreditation mechanisms to monitor the quality of centres d.Full participation of parents

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION And congratulation!

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